“It’s a hugely different experience,” said Deborah Shrimpton, resident director of the touring production. “It’s live theater. You are inside the experience. At one point, the animals come through the auditorium. You might even be touched by the animals.”

There is the wise Rafiki and the devious Scar, King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi, Pride Rock and the Grasslands, a sprawling ensemble and, of course, the hero of the story, young Simba who grows from a cub to a king.

Shrimpton travels with the company, ensuring that the touring production doesn’t drift too far from Taymor’s vision. “There’s freedom of choice for the actors,” Shrimpton said, “and they have different interpretations of characters. I encourage that. But ‘The Lion King’ is ‘The Lion King,’ and it’s ‘The Lion King’ all over the world. The production works wonderfully as it is.”

Lion King musical, is almost like the film, follows the arc of the young lion, Simba, whose wise, ruling father, Mufasa is killed by the nefarious Uncle Scar. Scar and his band of hyena followers take over the lands of Pride Rock.